Allahabad (redirected from Prayagraj)

Allahabad (ăl'əhəbăd`, –bäd`), city (1991 pop. 844,546), Uttar Pradesh state, N central India. On the site of Prayag, an ancient Indo-Aryan holy city, Allahabad is at the junction of two sacred rivers, the Yamuna and the Ganges. The confluence is known as Sangam and is visited by thousands of Hindu pilgrims every 12 years. The oldest monument is a pillar (c.242 B.C.) with inscriptions from the reign of Asoka. The city was the scene of much fighting in the Indian Mutiny (1857). Allahabad was the capital of the United Provinces from 1901 to 1949 and the center of the Indian independence movement. It is a district administrative headquarters and trading center and has an airport and a university. There is also a museum, built on the estate of the Nehru family.

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Allahabad

 ancient Prayag

City (pop., 2001: metro. area, 1,042,229), south-central Uttar Pradesh state, northern India, on the Ganges (Ganga) and Yamuna rivers. An ancient holy city sacred to Hindu pilgrims, it is the site of the Pillar of Ashoka (erected c. 240 BC). The Mughal emperor Akbar founded the present-day city in 1583; it was ceded to the British in 1801. Allahabad was the scene of a serious outbreak in the 1857 Indian Mutiny. As the home of the Nehru family, it was later a centre of the Indian independence movement. It is the site of the Jami Masjid (Great Mosque) and the University of Allahabad.

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Allahabad

a city in N India, in SE Uttar Pradesh at the confluence of the Ganges and Jumna Rivers: Hindu pilgrimage centre. Pop.: 990 298 (2001)

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Allahabad 

a city in northern India, in the state of Uttar Pradesh at the junction of the Ganges and Jumna rivers. Population, 514,000 (1971). It is a transportation junction. Industries include food and tobacco processing, glass production, and production of religious articles. There is a university and a place of worship for Hindu pilgrims. The stone column of Asoka (c. 242 B.C.) and a fort dating from 1583 are located in the city.

The date of Allahabad’s founding is unknown. In ancient India the city was known as Prayag—a name which is used to this day. The name of Allahabad was given to the city by Akbar, who built the fort of Allahabad near Prayag.